


Jason meets Nate

by Argyll137xz



Category: Hellequin Chronicles - Steve McHugh
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-23
Updated: 2017-02-23
Packaged: 2018-09-26 11:33:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9894740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Argyll137xz/pseuds/Argyll137xz
Summary: Jason hears about Avalon and dwarven runes for the first time and





	

There are advantages to being partially disabled. You may not think so, but you just have to find them.  
A few years back I suffered a stroke. It sounds so innocuous but it can have serious repercussions. I was in hospital for over three months, and it left me nearly, but not quite, paralysed down my right side so that arm is virtually useless and I need a stick for support to walk, and then only a short distance. I consider myself one of the lucky ones; at least I can still take care of myself, have some ‘semblance of a life; others are not so lucky.  
You may wonder where this is heading? Well, there’s only so much physiotherapy you can do when in hospital and there’s a lot of time to kill between visits from family and friends. Some sleep; I read and thought, and discovered the runes. I’d known about them since my teens, but now I became fascinated in them and even occasionally used them but never for anything serious. What I didn’t know was that they are capable of so much more than is suggested in any book, and that I was doing, consciously, with them. All that came later.  
It all came to a head one evening. Sometimes you have to go with the flow, and this evening was one of them, so I headed to my favourite watering hole, the Oban Inn. The first floor bar is not one of the easiest for me to get to, but it’s well worth the effort and I knew it would be quiet as I didn’t want any company, just somewhere to have a drink in a friendly surroundings.  
Once there I took a quick glance around the bar, noting just two local lads at one table who looked a bit worse for wear, and a man I didn’t recognise sat in one corner, various papers scattered on the table before him. All in all a typical quiet Wednesday evening in January!  
As I waited for Tony, the barman, to appear from whatever task he was doing, one of the two lads shouted something to me, something abusive. I looked over, then continued ignoring them. Apparently that was the wrong thing to do, as they both stood and made their, slightly unsteady, way over to me. I glanced over to the other man and noticed he’d put down the paper he’d been reading and was watching me. ‘Oh well, a witness to my humiliation!’ I thought to myself.  
The two thugs – there was no other word for them – had reached me and I turned my attention back to them. The smell of alcohol and the lack of deodorant was almost overwhelming!  
“Didn’t you hear what I said?” the nearest asked.  
Normally I would have ignored such a question from someone like him, but that was not an option here. I could sense impending violence, which is something I try to avoid if at all possible, but with these two.. Anyway, I hoped I could defuse the situation. “Sorry, no.” I said. “I’m just out for a quiet drink? Can I get you one?”  
The nearest one laughed, his breath nearly making me gag! “Who do you think you are?”  
His companion chimed in “Think you’re special, just because you’ve got a stick. And English too! You’re nothing!”  
The first agreed. “I think he needs teaching a lesson about us!”  
This was fast getting out of control. Tony appeared, immediately assessing the situation. “Okay, lads, take it easy. Don’t want any of that stuff in here.”  
“Tough!” the first one sneered, then turned and threw a punch in my direction.  
I think I must have been half-suspecting it, but I still didn’t have much time to react. I closed my eyes, wishing I could protect myself as I braced myself for the pain as his fist hit my face.  
And nothing happened! Mystified, I opened my eyes. The two thugs were in a heap on the floor, one of them struggling with a couple of chair legs! Tony had come around the bar and had grabbed one by his collar. “Don’t want your sort in here!” he growled as he hauled him roughly upright. Once on his feet Tony gave him a look that would have frozen stone then hauled the other up as well, then he turned to me and said “Excuse me while I throw the rubbish out!”, then he took hold of the back of their necks and propelled them through the door and out of sight, accompanied by loud swearing and cursing closely followed by thumps and groans as Tony had, undoubtedly, thrown them unceremoniously down the stairs that led directly to the street.  
He reappeared a few moments later, hardly out of breath and a grin on his face. “Sorry about that.” he said as he replaced the chair. “They wont be back. Now, what can I get you? On the house.”  
I protested that it wasn’t necessary but he was insistent. “Okay, my usual. Oban 14yr, no ice.”  
He laughed as he got my drink. “I should have known! It’s a double, don’t argue!”  
I thanked him, then pondered where I was going to sit. The decision was made for me by the man in the corner. He beckoned me over and I accepted. Maybe a little company was what I needed after all.  
As I made my way over he cleared the papers from the table, placing them in a plain folder. “I’m Nate.” he said.  
“Jason.” I replied, putting down my glass before sitting down resting my stick against the table.  
“I guess those two weren’t friends of yours!”  
“No.” I said. “I’ve no idea who they were, but I can guess why they picked on me. Easy target in the wrong place at the wrong time!”  
“Or the right.” he said quietly. “Anyway, nicely dealt with.”   
I felt a little confused. “I didn’t do anything!” I said. “I suppose he was so drunk that as he threw the punch he lost his balance and fell into his mate.” but even as I said it I had the feeling that wasn’t right.  
Nate looked hard at me. “You don’t really know, do you?”  
Now I was really confused. “Know what?” I asked.  
“I saw a rune appear on the back of your hand then vanish almost straight away.”  
For a moment I was speechless. I took a long drink of my whisky, hoping it would help me think. Nate leaned back in his chair, still watching me. “You didn’t realise, did you?”  
I nodded slowly. Why was he talking about runes? And just what had happened?  
“What went through your mind? he asked.  
“I thought to myself, ‘shit, I wish I had something to stop this because it’s going to hurt’ as I expected the punch.” I took another drink of whisky. “Just what did you see?”  
He gave a small thoughtful grin. “As you put your hand up to protect your face a rune appeared on the back of your hand, those two were thrown backwards and the rune vanished. That in it’s self is remarkable, but I thinks there’s more to it.”  
I found myself getting interested. Knowledge has always been a weakness of mine. “Such as?” I prompted.  
He finished his drink before answering, looking at me as if to appraise exactly what he should say. I could see him make his mind up. “There’s a couple of things.” he said.” I’m no expert on runes, there are those that are, but I think it was a dwarven rune you used, and the second thing is is that it was orange. I’ve never heard of anything like that, ever.” He must have seen the look of bafflement on my face. “I’d hazard a guess you’ve never heard of Avalon either?”  
I nodded and he laughed. “It’s a lot to take in, isn’t it! Drink up and I’ll get you another. There’s a few things you really ought to know!”  
I drained my glass, hardly noticing the whisky and he went to the bar. Whoever Nate was, he wasn’t joking when he’d said it was a lot to take in. I’d done something I hadn’t realised I was doing but he’d noticed. I wanted answers and he could give me some. And if not… What were dwarven runes, and what, or who, was Avalon? My quiet drink had taken an entirely unexpected direction.”  
“His return broke my thoughts, placing a glass in front of me as he sat down. Another double whisky, and my favourite. I raised a questioning eyebrow. “The barman told me.” he said forestalling my question.  
He took a sip from his glass. “Not bad. First time I’ve tried it. Wont be my last!” He placed his glass on the table. “I think it’ll be best if I explain a few things.” I nodded for him to continue.  
“You’ll have heard of Avalon in the context of the Arthurian legends.” and I nodded again. “Well, what you don’t know is that it’s all real. Avalon is a real place and Camelot a real city. So too are a lot of the people you thought were only legend...”  
“Such as Merlin, Arthur and the like.” I interjected. At the mention of Arthur’s name I saw something flit across his eyes, but it was gone in an instant. He continued.  
“And others. Avalon is not just a place but an organisation. Very simply put it’s a collection of various species, such as vampires, weres and such like, all working to various agendas, and it also has a considerable stake in human affairs, though not always to the advantage of humans. And not all of them have Avalon’s best interests in mind.” He paused and looked at me. “You don’t seem too surprised!”  
I nodded. “Can’t say I am. I’ve seen several odd things happen, and politics is politics! I would have a guess you work for Avalon?”  
He smiled. “I used too as Merlin’s, well, enforcer, but not any more. Now I’m more freelance”  
“So, who are you, exactly?”  
“Exactly? I’m a sorcerer.” A brief pause. “You don’t seem shocked or surprised by that either!”  
I laughed. “Maybe just a little but I’m open-minded and very interested.”  
“There should be more like you!” he said, taking a drink of his whisky.  
“Are there many like you?” I asked.  
“Like me? No, only one of me, but many sorcerers.”  
I had the feeling he was covering something but I didn’t like to pry. “Care to enlighten me a bit?”  
He glanced towards the bar but Tony was nowhere to be seen. “There are four basic types of magic.” he explained. “Fire, air, water and earth. I wont go into too much detail now, but I can use two. The first is fire.” and a small spinning ball of flame appeared to float above his open palm. As I watched it turned into a white, cloudy ball. “And the second is air. No matter how I try I can’t learn water or earth.” The ball vanished. “There are other types of magic too, but they’re for later. Other sorcerers are similar.”  
I was silent for a moment. “You mentioned vampires and weres, and others, such as?”  
“Such as The Olympians, Roman and Norse gods, gargoyles, enchanters, alchemists, the fey, and that’s just for a start!”  
“What are they like?” I asked. Well, it was the obvious question, but I wanted some idea.  
Nate realised this. “Like?” He sighed. “Pretty much like humans. There’s those who keep themselves to themselves, those that are decent and those that are self-serving arseholes!”  
I gave a chuckle. “Sounds like you’ve some experience of the latter!”  
He smiled ruefully. “Just a bit.” he agreed. “But this isn’t really about me but you. More to the point, where have you been all these years and how have you managed to stay off Avalon’s, and others, radar for so long?” He leaned back in his chair waiting for my answer.  
“I haven’t been doing much.” I said slowly. “In fact, until just now I didn’t know I was doing anything! Besides, I’ve only been looking at runes for the past few years!”  
A look of genuine surprise flitted across his face. “Well, that helps explain how Avalon knows nothing about you, but it doesn’t explain how you started being an enchanter.”  
“What’s an enchanter?” I asked.  
“Ah, I forgot. An enchanter is some-one who can use and manipulate the runes.” I was going to say something else but he stopped me. “There are others who can explain that better than me, but what is strange is the timing. You are an oddity, a rarity.”  
“How do you mean?” I wanted to know.  
“Well, most abilities, including mine and those of weres, elementals and such like, usually manifest themselves at an early age, by puberty at the latest. Something must have suppressed it until recently.”  
I thought back over the years. “I’ve no idea what it was, then. I’ve had a pretty uneventful life, apart from the usual scrapes a lad gets into.”  
“As I said, it must have been something fairly recent, and it doesn’t have to be physical to kick-start it.”   
I was about to say that there wasn’t anything I could think of, then I remembered Karen. Ah, Karen! That had been a messy break-up, very emotional and traumatic. I saw Nate peering closely at me and I wandered if he was reading my thoughts. He must have guessed what I was thinking.  
“No, only a few can do that, and I’m not one of them. But there was something, wasn’t there?”  
“There was, but I’d prefer not to talk about it.” I said.  
“Fair enough.” he agreed, and I caught an undercurrent of something else there, something personal and painful. He was continuing talking, “… think you should meet Lucie Moser. She’s the Deputy Director of S.O.A.”  
“You’ve lost me, I’m afraid. S.O.A.?”  
He laughed. “I keep forgetting, must be my age! Avalon is run a bit like a country. There’s a ruling Council, with members of all the main groups, a bit like Parliament but even slower to do things. Then there’s the Shield of Avalon, the secret service and intelligence agency; the Blade of Avalon, which is the equivalent of the armed forces but with vastly more power, and the Law of Avalon, which investigates crimes within Avalon as wells as Avalon members committing crimes against humans and vice versa. Lucie is S.O A. but she’ll know who will get the best from you, even if you’re not a part of S.O.A.”  
“And after that?”  
“After that, it’s up to you what you do. Anyway, think it over.”  
I didn’t need any time to think it over. Over the past few months I’d had an increasing feeling that I was missing out on something, something I needed to learn and these felt like a chance to find out what that was. “How do I get in touch with her?”  
He smiled at my eagerness. “You don’t, but if you give me your number she’ll get in touch with you and take things from there.”  
Before he’d finished speaking I’d taken my ‘phone from my inside pocket and passed it to him. He copied the number into his phone before handing it back to me. “She’ll be in touch within the next few days.” He glanced at his watch. “Time for me to leave, meeting someone.”  
I felt it prudent not to ask who but I did have a question. “You said the rune was possibly dwarven...”  
“I did.” he said, “and I can guess what you’re thinking, but there’s a slight catch.”  
“Oh, and what’s that?”  
“Well, all the dwarves left for realms unknown centuries ago. Just upped sticks and left. No-one knows where they are now”  
That was a bit of a shock. “Ah, so I can’t just go up to one, show them a rune and ask what it does!”  
He laughed. “If only it was that easy! Don’t worry, Lucie will be able to help, wait until you meet her, or one of her colleagues. She’ll be fascinated by your use of colour. Now, I must be away.”  
“Thank you.” I said.  
He stood and picked up his folder. “See if you feel like thanking me in a few months time! Good luck, Jason. Oh, and there’s one more thing you really should know.”  
“And what’s that?  
“If you turn out to be one of the arseholes I will find and kill you without a second thought!”  
I locked his eyes with mine. “If I find myself going that way I’ll do the job myself to save you the bother.”  
He held my gaze for a few more moments then nodded. “I believe you would.” then he was gone, leaving me with a head buzzing with thoughts. Just what had I gotten myself into?


End file.
